Ironhide the Autobot Weapons Transformer

Updated on August 10, 2012

The Weapons Specialist

Anyone who encounters the Transformer Ironhide may at first mistake the black-clad, intensely armored and offensively-stacked Cybertronian as a Decepticon; there simply doesn’t appear to be any room left on his chassis for an Autobot-sized heart (or heart-equivalent). Even the usually thoughtless actual Decepticons try their best to steer clear of engaging Ironhide on the battlefield, given not only his resistance to injury, but his capacity to deliver it. And when you consider the fact that waging war comes not only readily, but easily to Ironhide, as the former leader of the civil defense force on Cybertron, it makes sense why even innocents are wary of their first meeting with the gruff warrior.

Of course, an instant later, it becomes clear that, as not only the noble Optimus Prime’s most trusted battle companion, Ironhide couldn’t possibly be his oldest friend as well, were he truly an indiscriminate fighter. In fact, Ironhide cares about humans and sentient life just about as much as Optimus does; he simply isn’t as given to voicing emotion (in fact, he isn’t given to voicing much of anything), being the being of action that he is and always has been. Ironhide would place himself in harm’s way at the speed of thought – Autobot thought, anyway – to rescue certainly any human (and though the Transformers speak of treasuring all sentient life, from time to time I wonder if he’d do the same for a deer).

The Lance of Optimus Prime

As Optimus Prime’s undying and loyal lieutenant, Ironhide is well-equipped to serve as the resident Autobot weapon’s specialist. Back when the planet Cybertron was still alive, before Optimus jettisoned the Allspark in order to keep it out of Megatron’s evil clutches, Ironhide led the civilian militia for the entire planet; he has had a lifetime of preparation in engaging Decepticons. In that capacity, he survived more wars than most other current Transformers have even read about, and his hide has been replaced in parts to become so tough and dense, he is even heavier than Optimus Prime by half a ton (although he is a few feet shorter than the Autobot leader). This has led to him being the strong right arm of Optimus, called “the Big Stick” by the rest of the Autobots, due to his ever-ready willingness to attack with the full brunt of his offensive weaponry. Where Prime sometimes holds back, due to the collateral damage that the tremendous strength of his hyper-coiled frame can inflict, Ironhide doesn’t have the concept of “holding back” in his memory banks. He can be like a missile unleashed; there’s no holding back once the fuse is lit.